Ever
since the publication of “The Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection” by Charles Darwin in 1859, many
theories have been put forward regarding the reasons as to why animals and
humans are different. Whilst there was an initial tendency to focus on the
differences apparent in the main anatomic characteristics of the human body, in
more recent time research has concentrated on differences that are evident both
in the anatomy and in that of the workings of the human brain. While in the
past, the essence of the human being was placed on the pelvic structure, the
creation of tools or even the intermaxillary bone, the introduction of new
technology and cerebral imaging is enabling us to glean previously unthinkable
information regarding the evolution of specific structures and parts of the
brain. All these discoveries can be associated with new theories based on a
better understanding of the workings of the human mind. Hence, as a result of
an enormous joint effort, a comprehensible description of the cause of the
origin of mankind is emerging. This allows “love”, once considered as merely a
simple emotion, to be at the very core of explaining the evolutionary
characteristics of the human being.

Fonseca-Azevedo, K., & Herculano-Houzel, S. (2012). Metabolic Constraint Imposes Tradeoff between Body Size and Number of Brain Neurons in Human Evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 18571-18576. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1206390109

Gavrilet, S. (2012). Human Origins and the Transition from Promiscuity to Pair-Bonding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 9923-9928. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1200717109

Kay, R. F., Cartmill, M., & Balow, M. (1998). The Hypoglossal Canal and the Origin of Human Vocal Behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 95, 5417-5419. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.9.5417

Sutou, S. (2012). Hairless Mutation: A Driving Force of Humanization from a Human-Ape Common Ancestor by Enforcing Upright Walking While Holding a Baby with Both Hands. Gene to Cells, 17, 264-272.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2443.2012.01592.x

Tamir, D. I., and Mitchell, J. P. (2012). Disclosing Information about the Self Is Intrinsically Rewarding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 8038-8043. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1202129109